Sunday, August 19, 2007

Weekend Herb Blogging #96

These are Organic White Turkish Figs. They are fairly soft with quite a moist interior.

Figs contain Lignin, an indigestible fibre and Ficin, a digestive enzyme that has a mild laxative effect. These two ingredients help to make Figs and especially dried figs, a bowel friendly food. You'll also find Vitamins A, B6, C, E and K along with Calcium Copper, Folate, Iron, Manganese, Magnesium, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Phosphorus, Potassium, Riboflavin, Selenium, Sodium and Thiamine. If that wasn't enough there's a host of Amino acids, Beta-carotene and Benzaldehyde, an anti-cancer compound.

Since Zorra is a bread making guru I thought I might offer up a quick and easy bread. This recipe has been adapted from Liz Franklin's Quick Bread where it started life as a Blue Cheese, Fig and Walnut Bread. I've remove the cheese and replaced it with fresh dates and played around with the proportions to make a bread suitable for both sweet and savoury uses. Serve it with cheese or your favourite preserve, it's bound to please.

Soak the figs in the Marsala for about 30 minutes. If the dates are hard, soak them in hot water to soften.

Sift the flour with the baking powder into a bowl. Lightly whisk the eggs with the crème fraîche and then pour this into the flour mixture.

Stir until smooth then add the drained dates, walnuts and figs with any remaining Marsala and fold through until evenly distributed.

Butter and flour a loaf pan and pour in the batter. Bake in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven for 45 minutes or until cooked through. If it appears to be browning too quickly, cover with foil and lower the oven temperature slightly.

Let it cool slightly in the pan and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

How you eat this is up to you - it's an excellent match to thick chunks of cheese

Good grief this looks delicious. I love slightly sweet breads, and the figs in this one seem to fit the bill. With a little bit of cheese, as you recommend, I'm sure its fabulous. Your recipes and photos always look so good!

Thanks Zlamushka - you can try using port or sherry if you have it, rum or brandy would also work but use halve the measure and top it up with water otherwise it would be a bit too strong. You could try orange juice but that might just make it a little too sweet to use as a savoury bread.